A flight plan is a document filed, such as by a pilot or flight dispatcher, with the relevant civil aviation authority, such as the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the United States, prior to the departure of a flight. The flight plan indicates the anticipated route or flight path of the aircraft. The flight plan also generally includes information regarding the origin and destination of the flight, the anticipated duration of the flight, the airspeed and cruising altitude of the flight, and alternate airports that could be utilized, such as an instance in which the weather or a mechanical issue forces the aircraft to deviate from the planned route or flight path. The flight plan may also indicate the type of flight, such as whether the flight will be governed by instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, as well as information regarding the pilot and the number of passengers and information regarding the aircraft.
Although the preparation and filing of flight plans is helpful to organize flight activity within a region, the information from which a flight plan is based is somewhat limited and is typically based upon the historical experience of the pilot or flight dispatcher. As such, a flight plan may not take into account information relating to real time conditions that deviate from the historical experience of the pilot or flight dispatcher and that may disrupt the flight. As a result, a flight plan may sometimes be less accurate than is desired, such as in instances in which the current conditions along the flight path or at the destination airport differ from those that had been historically experienced with the difference being such that the flight of the aircraft is likely to be altered. For example, conditions along the flight path or at the destination airport may deviate from those that have been historically experienced in a manner that would cause the flight to actually have a longer duration than that anticipated by the flight plan. Deviations in the duration of a flight from those set forth by the flight plan can adversely impact scheduling and routing of the various flights in the region and may also adversely impact the passenger experience since their expectations as defined by the flight plan may not have been met.